Voice of the Forest
by thejazzienerd
Summary: Celebi finds herself in an unusual position when she ends up responsible for a lost five-year-old girl. (Read Blinding White Light first. It makes this story easier to understand.)


There was a long line of needy Pokémon waiting outside the hollow. There were always needy Pokémon waiting outside the hollow. Celebi tended to all of their needs, because that was her job. And they were always grateful.

Well, not _always. _But everyone knew how close Celebi and Shaymin were. And Shaymin had a truly devious imagination that she was fully prepared to put to use in the name of making anyone who failed to thank their protector regret that decision.

Some days the thanks of those she protected were the only thing that made the job bearable. Some days she was firmly of the opinion that she had the hardest job of any Legendary. In the past year alone, she'd solved a mystery involving a blight on Berry bushes, put out two forest fires, mediated countless interspecies disputes, and chased off more than one large, aggressive, predatory Pokémon. And that was just _this _forest.

As grateful as the local Pokémon were to her, they often forgot that her domain consisted of far more than just one forest. As soon as one had achieved a semblance of peace, she was off to the next one for a day or so, only to find a new line of needy Pokémon waiting for her when she returned.

She didn't want to complain about it. Every Legendary probably felt that way sometimes. Even those like Mew and Diancie, who didn't have clearly defined spheres of influence, still had areas to protect and Pokémon to care for. Moltres had nearly started a fight in the Hall when he'd complained about how hard his job was and Articuno insisted rather angrily that hers was _far_ more difficult. That tended to happen with the Birds, but they weren't the only ones who argued over little things.

Celebi usually kept her head down during the arguments. She didn't like being in the spotlight, and she really didn't like the idea of being Flamethrower-ed by an angry Moltres. Also, if she was actually in the Hall during the arguments, it was because events in her domain had quieted down enough that she could justify taking a day off. A day off that she didn't want to spend arguing with her family.

Seeing all those Pokémon waiting for her when she had just gotten back from solving a potential environmental crisis on the other side of the continent made her wish she could take a day off right now. She supposed that if she had to, she could deal with a few petitions then ask the rest to come back tomorrow morning after she'd had a nap. At least she hadn't had to time travel in a while. That was truly exhausting, and on top of it all, Dialga tended to get a little angry when she did. Something about "disrupting the continuum."

She swooped down and landed on a branch above the line. "**All right,**" she said, calling the crowd to order. "**I'll hear the first five now, the rest in the morning after I've slept. I just portaled back from Johto, and I'm tired.**"

The first in line was a crotchety old Furret. Celebi was very familiar with him. He always had some sort of complaint to make, usually regarding the humans. There _was_ a rather tenuous relationship between the two races, but it was far better than it used to be. Once, far too many people viewed Pokémon as something evil, to be killed on sight.

This time he was talking about human encroachment on the forest. Celebi tried hard not to tune him out—it was, after all, part of her job to listen to these complaints, and she needed to at least seem attentive—but none of what he had to say was news to her. The growing problem of human society expanding was the reason she'd come back to this particular forest.

The nearest human settlement was growing rapidly and needed to continually expand to accommodate all the new houses being built. The same thing was happening everywhere. Just last year, the vast majority of a forest in Kanto was cut down, turning hundreds of Pokémon into refugees and forcing the rest of the inhabitants to fight over what little space remained. She'd been so busy dealing with the situation that Mew and Shaymin had come to help.

The situation here wasn't nearly so drastic, but it could still prove problematic if ignored. She would need a plan.

But that too would have to wait until the morning.

* * *

The morning sun shone into the hollow, waking Celebi. She immediately looked outside and saw the same queue that had been there the night before. Some of the waiting Pokémon looked an awful lot like they'd never left.

Each had their own complaint. When compared to the human problem, all were minor. And nearly all of them were things she'd heard before.

There was an ongoing feud between a group of Venipede and a group of Sewaddle that required mediating practically every other day.

A group of concerned Eevee parents wanted something done about the local Beedrill, who had apparently been threatening their children.

Two Aipom who lived in the same tree were having yet another argument over which branches belonged to whom.

Celebi created a mental list of the items that couldn't be dealt with on the spot, so she could see to them later. She was deeply thankful that she was part Psychic, as it helped her remember things such as her inevitably extremely long to-do lists.

* * *

Once all the day's plaintiffs had been appeased, even if only temporarily, Celebi set off on a flight around the forest in order to assess the degree of human encroachment and the amount of damage that had been done.

In truth, she was stalling. She had no idea how to solve the situation. The humans wouldn't listen to her. They hadn't listened in other cases when the Church had cautioned them against disturbing the homes of "agents of Arceus."

Agents of Arceus. That was what Pokémon were now to humans. Still not one hundred percent accurate, but certainly better than "demons."

And to top the whole thing off, they didn't even know she existed.

The most powerful Legendaries were well known. After the event that had since become known as the Revelation, Xerneas, Lugia, and the rest of them had been formally recognized by the Church and inserted into the pantheon as lesser gods, or "divine spirits," as they were sometimes called.

The less powerful Legendaries were still completely unknown. Celebi supposed she should have been upset by that, especially since the domain that should have been hers had been assigned to Xerneas instead.

But she wasn't.

* * *

After a couple hours of flying around the forest pretending to assess damage, she came up with the first step of a plan, which was to go to the settlement and observe. The problem with that was that she couldn't turn invisible. And she was bright green. Inside the village, she would stand out.

Which was why she started off perching on one of the highest branches of a tree at the very edge of the forest.

From there, a place where no one was likely to see her, she watched the goings-on in the town.

It was not a good view. She was able to see just about everything that happened from this height, but she was too far away to see details.

After putting up with her less-than-ideal vantage point for roughly an hour, judging by the movement of the sun, Celebi started looking for a perch a little closer to town. Instead, she noticed a man and a girl, apparently his daughter, leaving town through the closest gate.

They were probably going to leave an offering at one of the shrines. There were several inside the walls of the village, as well as a few placed outside it, in the open. The obvious choice in this case would be Xerneas' shrine, which was located alongside the path at the point where it entered the forest. They were walking straight toward it, after all.

Celebi dropped lower in the tree, wanting to be sure to catch anything and everything they might say.

Just as she had guessed, they stopped at the shrine, but now that she could see them in greater detail, she realized that there was no reason for them to be visiting.

People were wary of the world's wild areas, and not without reason. Pokémon weren't supposed to attack humans, but sometimes instinct or stress took over. And human expansion had tensions running extra high in a lot of Pokémon communities.

They couldn't be traveling anywhere. The girl couldn't be older than five, and her father carried no equipment. They weren't prepared for an overnight trip of any kind. And there was nothing in that direction that was less than one day away on foot. At least nothing that would interest most humans.

Celebi was now close enough to the visitors that the father would touch her if he happened to reach up.

"This, Leah, is the shrine of Xerneas, Guardian of the Forests."

_That should be my title_, Celebi thought.

"Is he nice?" the little girl asked.

"He can be. As with all the divine spirits, he can be extremely mean if not shown the proper…" The father trailed off for a moment, as though searching for a word his daughter could understand. "He hates those who take from his forests without asking permission."

"How do you ask?"

"Well, that's why the shrine is here."

"He doesn't sound very nice."

"Well, he is also called the Lifebringer and the Healer. The stories say he can heal any injury and even stop someone from dying."

The girl's eyes went wide.

"Of course, that is just a story," the father muttered.

Celebi chuckled to herself. That "story" was also the only part of their lore about Xerneas that was actually true.

"Does he have a c…coun…count…"

"Counterpart."

"That's a big word, Daddy."

"It is," he agreed. "And he does. Yveltal, the Deathbringer."

"He sounds mean."

"She, honey. Yveltal is a she."

"_She_ sounds mean."

"Not really. People are scared of her because dying is scary. Her job is to collect the souls of people who have recently died and bring them to…well, to heaven."

"Heaven!"

"And Arceus also sends her to deal with the bad people who've made him angry."

"Barney James is a bad person. He climbed through Goodwife Thomas's kitchen window and stole a berry tart."

"Well, then maybe she'll be paying him a visit soon."

The father laughed.

So did Celebi, being careful to make sure no one could hear her.

The wind suddenly picked up.

While Celebi had been listening to the man and his daughter talk, a summer storm had been building up steam.

_Oh, not good_, she thought.

Thunder rumbled overhead.

"Daddy!" Leah screamed.

The father turned to run back to the village, reaching out to grab his daughter in the same motion.

Lightning struck a tree near the one Celebi perched in. With a tremendous crack, the top third of the tree broke off and fell.

Straight toward Leah and her father.

Celebi reached out with a Psychic, flinging the father farther down the path towards town and Leah farther into the woods. The branch crashed to the ground in flames, inches from crushing the shrine.

The father got to his feet.

"Leah!" he cried.

"Daddy!"

"Leah, honey. Are you alright?"

Celebi surveyed the situation and abruptly realized that the tree had fallen across the path and that Leah was effectively trapped in the woods by a burning branch.

She watched the little girl get up and run deeper into the woods.

_Of course,_ Celebi thought. _A little kid scared half to death, maybe in shock. Of _course_ she runs _into_ the woods. _

The father ran toward the fallen branch.

"**_No,_**" Celebi said, hoping she sounded suitably authoritative. "**_Return to your home. Gather a search party when the storm has passed. I will protect her until then._**"

* * *

After watching the father turn and run through the rain back to town, Celebi turned her attention to the flaming branch. The rain would probably put the fire out eventually, but she didn't want to take chances. Reaching for her power over plants, Celebi made the grass and other undergrowth grow and coil across the branch to smother the flames.

That done, her next concern was the girl. She reached out and found the minds of several nearby Pokémon who would hopefully be willing to help her.

"**There is a little human girl wandering the forest,**" she told them. "**If you can without being obvious, guide her to my hollow.**"

* * *

Celebi couldn't Teleport, so she was forced to fly back to the hollow as fast as she could. Her home was her own creation: a mostly dead hollowed out tree trunk that she had caused ivy and other plants to grow over. It stood on the upper edge of a sizable natural depression in the ground that had filled up with rainwater over the years.

By the time she made it there, the storm was in full swing, but the inside of the tree was warm and dry, thanks to her protective layer of plants. The tree was also shorter that the others nearby, lessening its chances of being struck by lightning. This would probably be the safest possible place for Leah to be during the storm.

Half an hour after Celebi returned to the hollow, a soaking wet little girl stumbled out of the trees. She stared in awe at the clearing in front of her, and Celebi smiled.

_Come on, _she thought. _Go in the tree._

But the girl walked to the edge of the pond and sat there crying.

_Or not. _

Celebi flew across the clearing and approached the little girl.

"**Hello, Leah.**"

The girl looked up.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"**My name is Celebi. Welcome to my home.**"

"You live here?"

"**Over there.**"

She pointed to the tree.

"**You are welcome to stay there until the storm passes.**"

"Really?"

Lightning flashed, lighting up the sky.

"**And I suggest we get inside.**"

"Wait. Daddy said not to go anywhere with strangers."

Thunder rumbled overhead.

That was enough to make the girl change her mind, and she got up and ran for the hollow.

Celebi parted the ivy, and Leah crawled into the opening at the base of the tree, which was barely big enough for her. Celebi closed the ivy curtain behind her, then used Calm Mind to help the girl rest.

"Did you do that?" Leah asked.

"**Yes. I did. Now, get some sleep, little one. Nothing will harm you here.**"

* * *

Most of the forest Pokémon were hiding in their homes until the storm passed. Celebi wished she could follow suit, but this was a time when the forest needed her more than usual. If any other trees caught fire, she would need to put them out. If the pond in the clearing, or any other body of water, started to overflow, she would need to put up barriers before any Pokémon found their homes underwater.

Dealing with a storm was a full time job.

Right now her most important task was watching for Leah's father. This storm had already lasted far longer than usual. Summer storms tended to build up fast and than subside just as quickly. This one was still going strong after thirty minutes.

So Celebi passed the time until the storm finally blew over by perching in the branches of her home and waiting for Pokémon to contact her with news of trouble. That was what she would do during storms most of the time, since, if Pokémon did come looking for her for help, it would be easier for them to find her if she was here in her clearing than if she was flying around the forest looking for crises.

After an hour of rain, the downpour became a drizzle. Now was when the concerned father would begin his search.

Celebi pushed off from her tree and flew back toward the town.

She found the group easily. Leah's father and three other men were walking down the only path through the forest.

"So, let me get this straight. The Forest Guardian himself spoke in your head and promised to protect your daughter until the storm passed?" said a blond man.

"Basically, but the voice sounded awfully feminine."

"So, it might not have been him."

"Who else would it have been?" asked another man. This one had dark hair.

"This storm was not natural," said the last of the group, who wore the insignia of the Church. "Suppose…"

"Why would she be conjuring up storms here of all places?" said Leah's father.

They were talking about Lugia, Celebi realized.

"So, where are we going?" asked the blond man.

"If Leah is with the Guardian," said the man with the insignia, "then we should look for an area where the Agents are congregating, most likely a grove of trees. If she has been…stashed…somewhere away from the Guardian's home, which is more likely, I'm not sure where we should start."

"Stashed?" asked the father. "You make it sound like she's a prisoner."

"Rest assured that the Guardian will not have harmed her, but if she has seen his home and the secrets of his realm, he may not be so willing to let her leave."

"If that's true, what do we do?"

"The way this is supposed to work is that we do him a service, and then he lets her go."

"If he doesn't want people seeing his home, why would he offer to protect Leah?"

"Who knows?"

Celebi reached out with her hand, and a branch on a nearby tree shifted until it was pointing toward the hollow.

"Did you see that?" asked the blond man.

"Seems as though we are being led somewhere," said the cleric.

"Shall we follow?" asked the dark-haired man.

"It's the best bet we've got," said the father.

* * *

Celebi flew back to the hollow as fast as she could, travelling the most direct route and leaving a series of natural arrows in her wake.

She headed straight for the hollow tree and knocked on the outer bark.

"**Leah, honey**," she called. "**Your father is coming**."

There was no response.

"**Leah?**"

When she still heard nothing from inside the tree, she opened the ivy and looked inside. The girl was still sleeping soundly.

She heard rustling in the trees across the clearing, no doubt caused by four men with no idea of how to move silently in the woods.

_Here we go_, she thought. She had hoped she would be able to hide in the tree and guide the men to the girl with Psychic suggestions. Apparently, she wasn't going to get that lucky.

They stepped out of the trees, three men armed with items that were probably borrowed from the local blacksmith and one man clutching a symbol of Arceus.

They saw her, and their grips on their weapons visibly tightened.

Celebi folded her arms and trying to look disapproving and worthy of respect. Not easy, considering she was smaller than these men's heads and quite possibly weighed less than their weapons.

"**You brandish the symbol of the Creator at one of his agents?**" she asked.

The men all looked suitably embarrassed—and slightly scared—and hurriedly lowered their weapons.

"Our deepest regrets, of course," said the cleric. "We have never seen a creature like you."

_No titles_, Celebi thought. _Thankfully._

"We seek this man's young daughter, who was lost in the woods during the storm."

Leah's father stepped forward.

"Where is the Guardian?" he asked.

"**Xerneas? I believe he is currently in the land you call Kalos.**"

_Good call being careful with the region name, but you should have called him lord_, she thought, inwardly cursing herself for the slip-up.

"**But the child is here.**"

Celebi pointed toward the tree.

Leah's father rushed over and poked his head through the ivy. After a few seconds, he came out, holding Leah in his arms. She was still asleep.

_Good. She'll think this was a dream._

The man walked over to Celebi.

"Thank you," he said.

"**You are welcome.**"

He stared at her intently.

_Oh no. _

"You are a spirit, aren't you?"

_Arceus, why did it have to be me?_ she thought. She hated the spotlight, and _everyone_ at the Hall knew it.

"Blasphemy," cried the cleric. "There are only eleven!"

Celebi took a deep breath. "**There are more.**"

"What?"

"**What if I were to tell you that there are actually 48?**"

"Meaning 49 counting Arceus," the cleric muttered. "That's a powerful number."

"And you are one of them?" asked Leah's father.

"**Indeed. My name is Celebi. It is I, not Xerneas, who protects this world's forests.**"

"So then why did he claim to be?"

_And I went and forgot that he basically called himself the Guardian of the Forest_, she thought._ Great._

"**I do not know, but I am sure that his intent was not to deceive. Nor did he do so out of any malice toward me. I suspect, considering the circumstances, that his motive was simple expediency, to illustrate quickly and clearly that he was the one in charge.**"

"So who are some of these other spirits we don't know about?" asked one of the men.

_Surely there is someone who would be a better choice to give them this information,_ she thought.

She hadn't been intentionally directing her thoughts to Arceus, or to anyone else, but this time, she heard a reply.

_No, Celebi. There is not._

Something suddenly occurred to her. _Did you and Lugia plan this?_ she asked.

This time, there was no response.

_Oh, all right._

She would have to be careful. The more she couched her explanations of the other minor Legends in the humans' existing belief system, the less potential fallout would result. The addition of the divine spirits to the pantheon three generations ago had caused a holy war because Sinnoh had insisted that the changes the southern nations were adding to religious canon were a sign that those countries had been taken over by something evil that it was their duty to defeat. Celebi had no desire to cause something similar, even indirectly.

"**You would probably refer to us as lesser spirits, and that would be accurate. We are far less powerful than those you know of already. Some of us do not have clearly defined spheres of influence, and there are a few of us whose primary purpose is to serve the greater eleven. Others of us have extremely specific spheres.**

"**The first of us you should know is Kyurem, who serves to balance Reshiram and Zekrom. Where they are truth and ideals, he is both. And neither. Then there is Cresselia, Giver of Good Dreams, and, again for balance, her brother, Darkrai, Giver of Nightmares.**"

"Wait. He's real?" asked the blond man.

"**He is, but he is not as malevolent as your stories make him out to be. He may be dark of appearance and of mood, but he is indisputably on our side."**

She paused for a moment to let what she had already said sink in.

"**Then there is Mew, whose essence was used as the template for the creation of the creatures you call Agents. Also, Jirachi, the Granter of Wishes, Shaymin, the Prankster.**"

"Prankster?" asked the cleric.

"**Well, her true sphere is gratitude, but she enjoys playing tricks on anyone who doesn't remember to be thankful.**"

"**Moving on, there is Mesprit, Spirit of Emotion, and her brothers, Uxie, Spirit of Knowledge, and Azelf, Spirit of Willpower. And there is Victini, Star of Victory and Giver of Success**.

"**Balance is very important to us. Many of us have counterparts for that very reason. Xerneas has Yveltal, Groudon has Kyogre, and so on. That is why Zygarde, Keeper of Order and Balance, may be the most important of us all.**"

"That's only eleven more," said one of the men.

"**Well, most of the rest are hard to explain**."

Celebi was thinking about how to introduce the rest of her fellow Legends when Leah stirred in her father's arms.

"She's waking up," he said.

"**Take her home,**" Celebi told him. "**Come back later if you are still curious. You are always welcome here.**"

* * *

Once they had left, Celebi attempted to re-initiate her earlier conversation with Arceus.

_You did set this up, didn't you?_ she asked.

No response.

_Why me?_

This time, a response came.

_Because, as the one most ill-affected by Xerneas' necessary lie, you were the best possible choice._

* * *

**AN: Here's the next _Uprising_ side-story, finally. This story has been in development hell for nearly two years. **

**This story takes place about 100 years after _Blinding White Light_, and over two millennia before _Uprising_. If Celebi here doesn't quite match _Uprising_ Celebi, that's why. **

**I know the title isn't the most creative, but I like to think there's a double meaning to it: the movie reference, and also the theme of Celebi finding her voice. **

**Yes, the setting of this story was left intentionally vague.**

**I will, at some point, be uploading both a timeline for this version of the Pokemon world, and a document detailing the religious history of this world. There will be more information regarding the war with Sinnoh in later stories. **

**Lastly, a note on numbers. 49 is a "powerful number" because 7 is a significant number in many religions, and 49 is 7 squared. Also, I went with 11 "greater spirits"(Ho-oh and Lugia, the Weather Trio, Dialga and Palkia, Reshiram and Zekrom, Xerneas and Yveltal) to evoke the 11 faithful disciples of Jesus, placing Giratina in the "Judas" role. Having 12 deities total (counting Arceus) also evokes the Olympian gods.**


End file.
